Chapter 5

Blaine

Getting up on Sunday morning wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be since I managed to watch what I was drinking. I met up with Caleb for brunch at a restaurant in downtown Philly, and I could tell that he hadn’t practiced the same kind of restraint that I had. His eyes were dark, and his hair was slightly messier than normal.

“You okay?” I asked.

“I’m fine,” he grumbled, drinking his water. “Drank way too much last night, but goddamn, the hottie I took back to my place was perfect.”

“The one in the black dress?” I asked.

“Yeah, that one,” he said proudly.

“Nice.” I laughed.

“What about you? Did you pick up that redhead that was hitting on you?”

“No,” I sighed. “Sadly, I woke up alone in my bed this morning.”

“What? The handsomest man in the room went home alone? What’s up with that?”

“I don’t know,” I said, looking down at my brunch. “I just wasn’t feeling it, and there was this chick on my mind from earlier.”

“Who?” he asked, scrunching his eyebrows. “I didn’t see you with anyone.”

“I only talked to her for a few minutes,” I replied. “But she was freaking perfect and absolutely adorable. Her name was Reese. She said she was friends with your sister. I guess they used to keep each other company when they were younger. Your father and hers work together.”

“Hmm,” he said, lifting his fork to his lips. “I know who you’re talking about, and I do remember seeing you talking to her for a few minutes.”

“So, tell me about her,” I said with excitement brewing in my belly. “What does she do? Does she have a boyfriend? I know she isn’t married because our conversation led to her saying she didn’t want a big wedding like Caroline’s, though she thought it was beautiful.”

“Honestly, man, I really don’t know much about her,” he said. “Her father owns a financial firm and travels back and forth to New York where one of his branches is. My father does work for them, but other than that, I really never spent any time with the girl. Why didn’t you just get her number?”

“That was the weird part,” I said, replaying it over in my head. “I found her before she left and asked her for it, but she blew me off, saying something about her not being the girl I was looking for.”

“That’s weird,” he said with a mouthful of bacon. “You aren’t really the type to go scaring off women.”

“I know man,” I said, shaking my head.

“So why are you looking for her then?”

“I don’t know,” I said, rubbing my hands over my still-unshaven face. “There was just something about her that I couldn’t turn away from. She was on my mind all night.”

“Whoa, that’s heavy, bro,” Caleb said with surprise. “It’s not like you to keep thinking about a girl like that.”

“I know, I just—”

“Hey, guys,” Caroline said as she pulled out a chair and plopped down. “Ugh, I am starving.”

“Hey, sissy,” Caleb said fondly. “Where’s Troy?”

“He’s still sleeping,” she said. “I didn’t want to wake him.”

“Up all night, huh?” Caleb playfully elbowed his sister.

“Stop,” she said with blushed cheeks. “That’s gross. I am not joking with my brother about my sex life.”

“You looked amazing yesterday,” Caleb said. “And everything went off without a hitch. That has to be the first time in wedding history.”

She smiled. “I know, right?”

“When are you guys leaving for the Bahamas?” I asked.

“Not until tomorrow morning,” she said. “We wanted to have a day to relax here in the city before jumping on a plane. Besides, I think Troy knew that he would need a day of rest after like a week straight of celebrating and drinking.”

“Yeah, I feel like I could use a vacation.” Caleb chuckled, handing Caroline a piece of toast.

Caleb and Caroline had been very close their whole lives, without much of the normal sibling bickering that usually went on. I assumed that with their family being so business oriented, they leaned on each other for support growing up because their mother and father were just too busy with other things. Sure, it wasn’t your typical family with a comforting mother and strong, leading father, but the two of them seemed to turn out really well. Caleb treated all his friends like family, and his sister as a friend, too. It was nice, and I wished that I had that kind of relationship with my family, but alas, I was left to my own devices.

“And how are you this morning, Blaine?” Caroline looked over at me and smiled.

“I’m really good since I watched what I drank last night, unlike some people,” I said, looking over at Caleb.

“Yeah, my brother has an issue with excess.” She laughed and took a sip of coffee.

“No, I don’t,” he said bitterly.

“Oh yeah? What about the time we went to Aunt Eliza’s funeral? You drank so much you passed out, and they almost thought you were another dead body?”

“I don’t like funerals,” he said. “And it wasn’t my fault. Uncle Bernard was drinking with me.”

“Oh, okay,” she said sarcastically. “How about the seven of every type of suit you like hanging in the closet?”

“I work hard so I can have nice things,” he said proudly.

“Uh huh.” She giggled.

“Thank you for having me at the wedding,” I said. “It was really beautiful.”

“You are welcome, and thanks for showing up.” She smiled. “Did you meet any lovely single ladies?”

“He sure did, and she totally threw him shade,” Caleb said, ignoring the rolling of my eyes.

“Oh yeah? Who was it?”

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that,” I said, ignoring Caleb. “I’d really like to talk to her again. Her name was Reese.”

“Reese Tenor?” she asked. “Wow, I didn’t see that coming at all. Reese is an interesting girl, very quirky, but all in all, one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. We grew up running around the club together while Caleb scouted girls and our fathers had ‘business meetings’ on the golf course or tennis court. We kept each other out of our parents’ hair. Her parents are a lot like mine and Caleb’s. They loved us very much but were too business oriented to show it.”

“What does she do now?” I asked,

“Honestly, I don’t know,” she said, smiling as the waitress sat her food in front of her. “I think she started some sort of business. She bought one of the buildings from my father’s firm just a year or so ago.”

“Do you know if she is seeing anyone?”

“I talked to her last night about that,” she said. “She’s definitely single, but I can assure you, she is not interested in someone like you.”

“What does that mean?” I chuckled and sipped my orange juice.

“She may have come from a rich family and everything, but she is a really down to earth girl,” she explained. “She doesn’t do one-night stands or casual encounters, and she isn’t interested in people’s money. She is a genuine person through and through.”

“I think it’s safe to say Blaine is interested in a little more than a one-night stand,” Caleb said, teasing me. “He couldn’t sleep last night, thinking about this girl, and he turned down a hot chick at the reception last night.”

“Wow,” Caroline said, sounding impressed. “Well, I don’t have a problem giving you her number as long as you play nice and don’t get your hopes up. I’m telling you, she is not the kind of girl that goes out to parties, bars, and expensive dinners every night. She made her own way in life trying to prove to her dad that she could, and she is very protective of herself. She always has been.”

“It’s not like he’s planning on stalking her.” Caleb laughed. “He just wants to get to know her.”

“Thank you.” I laughed. “I promise that I won’t get my hopes up and that I won’t scare her.”

“Thank you,” Caroline said, pinching her brother’s arm.

She gave me Reese’s number, and I put it into my phone, feeling nervous all of a sudden about having to actually call her to talk to her. I was not the kind of guy that got nervous over these things. I was the kind of guy that was confident, headstrong, and not afraid to go out on a limb to get what I wanted. This, however, was throwing me for a loop, and I couldn’t figure out why. She was just a girl, right? I had randomly called girls a million times, and I never gave it two seconds of thought. That also could be because every girl I ever decided to chase was more than willing to be caught.

I had a seriously competitive nature about me, and when I was told I couldn’t do something or have something that I wanted, it just made me try even harder. I was pretty sure that by Caroline telling me that Reese was not going to be interested in a guy like me, my mind instantly went into overdrive, deciding that not getting the girl was not an option. I also had to remember though, that she was a person and not a play thing, especially if I wanted her to take me seriously at all. There was obviously a reason that I was feeling this way about this girl, and even though I was not looking for anything serious whatsoever, she made me want to not rule it out. Her beautiful smile and sexy body were one thing, but the fact that she was as awkward outwardly as I felt on the inside, I knew that we had more in common than she really knew.

Now, all I had to do was get up the courage to actually call her and find out just what I needed to do to get this girl in front of me again. I knew with my charm and personality, I could keep her engaged long enough to show her there was more to me than just good looks and money. I could show her that we weren’t as different as she really thought in the first place. I had a mission now, and this girl was not going to get away from me again.